-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Jack Whittaker had the noblest of plans .

Upon winning the then-largest-ever $ 314 million Powerball jackpot in 2002 , the West Virginia construction company owner said he wanted to pay tithes to the Church of God , get some of his laid-off workers back on the job and start a charitable foundation .

He might buy a helicopter , and he 'd definitely pamper his daughter and granddaughter , he said .

`` I 'm not going to buy anything for myself , '' he said during a news conference announcing his windfall . `` The very first thing I 'm going to do is , I 'm going to go home . I 'm going to sit down and make out three checks to three pastors for 10 % of this check . That 's the very first thing I 'm going to do . ''

Already a millionaire via his company , Whittaker predicted the money would n't faze him at all . His life , he said , would carry on normally .

`` If I can help it , it 's not going to change . I 'm content with my life , '' he told reporters . `` I 'm not going to change my life much . ''

Yet by 2007 , barely four years after what should have been the luckiest day of his life , Whittaker was a broken-down man who had lost his granddaughter to drugs and who had a reputation for DUIs , frequenting strip clubs and getting robbed . His divorce would be finalized the following year . His daughter would die the next .

In January 2007 , responding to a complaint that he had n't paid his settlement with a woman who claimed he harassed her at a greyhound track , Whittaker issued a statement to the Kanawha County Circuit Court , saying , `` On 9-11 , a team of crooks went to 12 different -LRB- City National Banks -RRB- cashed 12 -LRB- checks -RRB- and got all my money . ''

`` I intend to pay but ca n't without any money , '' the statement said .

Whittaker , of course , is the poster man for lottery winners forced off the tracks , and , certainly , there are many happy lottery winners who took their winnings and quietly went about their lives without so much as another headline in the local newspaper .

Perhaps shockingly , however , about 70 % of those incurring a financial windfall lose that money within a few years , according to the National Endowment for Financial Education .

As we await the name of the person who purchased the winning $ 400 million Powerball ticket in Lexington , South Carolina , it 's worth a reminder that sudden fortune is n't the panacea it 's sometimes made out to be .

Not only can seemingly unlimited income stoke temptations to spurn moderation , but lottery winners may also find friends and family members treating them more like a mark than a loved one , said Michael Boone , a Bellevue , Washington , wealth manager who spoke to CNN after the winners of the $ 656 million Mega Millions jackpot were announced last year .

`` Anytime you 're a public figure , you 're going to attract attention from people who want to take things from you , '' he said . `` Most of us would n't be too happy if the amount of our paychecks was in the newspaper . ''

Charities begin soliciting . Self-styled entrepreneurs approach with pitches . Second cousins come looking for loans . Friends know someone who can help manage the money .

`` That 's not to say you would n't want to do something nice for those people , but it could become a full-time job , '' Boone said .

His advice would be to remain anonymous , but only Delaware , Kansas , Maryland , North Dakota , South Carolina and Ohio allow winners to avoid state lottery publicity . -LRB- Michigan does in certain circumstances , but not for Powerball or Mega Millions winners . -RRB- Thus , Boone advises his clients to keep a low profile .

As Michael Norton , associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School , told CNN in 2011 , `` When you become the rich person , who other people look to , it can actually erode the social bond that you have with people because it changes your relationship from friendship into almost like a transaction . ''

What 's the worst that can happen , you ask ? Well , Whittaker does n't even provide the worst-case scenario .

Earlier this year , Urooj Khan , a man described as a successful , hardworking Indian immigrant , died of cyanide poisoning the day after collecting $ 425,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket . No arrest has been made .

William `` Bud '' Post 's own brother reportedly tried to kill him after he won $ 16.2 million in a 1988 Pennsylvania state lottery game . Though his brother was imprisoned , Post 's reckless spending and behavior left him broke and divorced before he died in 2006 of respiratory failure .

These are extremes , of course , but there are many cases of lesser tragedies befalling lottery winners .

There 's the British man who squandered a 2002 jackpot of 9.7 million pounds , much of it on cocaine and hookers , only to find himself working as garbage man again by 2010 .

And the St. Louis wig maker who won $ 18 million in 1993 , only to spend so lavishly on political and philanthropic causes that she filed for bankruptcy four years later .

Or the New Jersey woman who won the lottery twice -- a grand total of $ 5.4 million -- but was so helpless to avoid games of chance that she ended up in a trailer after giving the lion 's share of her money to Atlantic City casinos .

Jim McCullar saw spooky signs before he even collected half of his $ 380 million Mega Millions prize in Washington in 2011 , telling CNN that he was reluctant to even come forward because `` all we saw were predators and we were afraid to do anything until we got down here with police protection . ''

Winning is n't always a curse , though . Lee McDaniel of Stone Mountain , Georgia , who won $ 5 million in the Georgia Lottery in 2010 , said in an interview the following year that he did n't see any downside to the money . He 'd helped his sister with medical bills , handed out money to other relatives , remodeled his home , bought an RV and Jeep , and invested a large chunk of the cash .

`` I do n't feel that I have changed . I am just very secure financially , '' he said .

It 's quite the contrast to Whittaker , and while most lottery winners ' experiences fall somewhere between McDaniel 's and Whittaker 's , it 's safe to say no one wants to follow the latter 's path post-millions .

No one should ever have to tell ABC News , as Whittaker did five years after his windfall , that they 'd be better off without the money .

`` Since I won the lottery , I think there is no control for greed , '' he told the station . `` I think if you have something , there 's always someone else that wants it . I wish I 'd torn that ticket up . ''

CNN 's Eliott C. McLaughlin , Elizabeth Landau , Greg Botelho and Chandler Friedman contributed to this report .

@highlight

Jack Whittaker of West Virginia became a broken-down man after winning $ 314 million

@highlight

Urooj Khan died of cyanide poisoning after a $ 425,000 scratch-off win

@highlight

But Georgian Lee McDaniel , who won $ 5 million in 2010 , says he 's yet to see a downside

@highlight

Wealth manager advises his clients to keep a low profile